Afraid of water
by MakingPaperCranes
Summary: Random story peice, will accept other name possibilitys, cos this one 'aint so good. Refers to an OC in one of my previous stories called 'A Pleasant Charade' you might need to read it to understand some of this.             "you can't fight water"
1. Prolouge

right so this is a weird little story which popped into my head. its okay ish and yo have to have readthe previous story by me called a pleasant charade other wise you wont understand the carachter.

so yeah this is just a random little story... it has more chapters to come... read& reveiw and hopefull enjoy. oh yeah and skulduggey is human, the facade was made permenant in this...

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Charade sighed as she looked out to the sea. She stood just out of reach of the lapping waves and didn't dare to go any closer. _Why do you still terrify me? Why can't I just step forward and get it over with? Go on just do it! Just jump in, it's not going to harm you. It's just water for Christ's sake! _ She looked down at the water, which lapped up and almost touched her feet. She took another step back. She tried to will herself to step forward. To just give up on her paralysing fear of water. The fear of drowning. She'd had this crushing fear for a while now. She could remember it like it was yesterday. She had been chasing a murderer across a frozen lake in the north of England; she was just about to catch up with him when she heard the cracking beneath her feet. The slow and painful noise the ice made as it separated beneath her. She was in the paralysing cold of the water before she could move. She had tried to pull herself out but the murderer had looked down at her and simply smiled, he was an elemental. He refroze the hole she had made in the ice, and she could see his distorted smile through the ice, as the panic set in. She started hammering the ice, trying to break free of the freezing dark abyss which had become her prison. She could feel her lungs burning, her energy waning with every punch at the ice. Her eyes fighting to stay open against the cold and the lack of oxygen. She thumped the ice one last time and then felt the darkness consume her.

Charade gasped when she felt the warm tears down her face, and remembered where she was. She looked down the find the water enveloping her feet. She fought down the scream rising in her throat and moved quickly away from the water's edge. She felt fresh tears run down her face. Then strong, muscled arms wrapped around her waist, and pulled her back, further away from the water. Pulling her to safety. She turned around in his arms and looked up into his anxious and worried eyes. She buried her head in his chest and he pulled her closer to him and hugged her tightly. She was fighting to hold in the sobs that racked her whole body, and was trembling with the effort. He leaned down and whispered into her ear, "Hey, shh, is okay. I've got you, your okay." Skulduggery tried to soothe her and he held her tighter again. "Come on let's get you out of here. What were you doing out here anyway, you shouldn't do these things to yourself, I hate to see you hurt." She turned her big forest green eyes up to him; they brimmed with tears which threatened t roll down her cheeks.

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered. He just looked down at her shocked.

"There is nothing wrong with you, you are smart, funny, outstandingly beautiful, with amazing eyes and beautiful hair. You can kick ass and you are one of the most amazing people I have ever met, I love you charade, and I always will. What would ever make you think that there was something wrong with you?" skulduggery raised his hands to cup her cheeks, and gently rubbed the tears away from her eyes with his thumbs.

She smiled slightly at his words. "I love you two skul..." she whispered, "but how come I can fight horrible monsters, and unimaginable evil, and then laugh in their faces. But when it comes to something as simple as a swim, I become paralysed with fear and run thirty feet?" skulduggery looked down at her,

"Because you can't fight water, you can't do some fancy kick and have it on its knees. But that doesn't mean you let it control you. You are strong and wonderful, and in love with one of the most amazing people ever." She smiled, "you're going to be fine."

"Thank you." She whispered, and leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the lips. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled away but kept an arm around her waist, turning to lead her back to the Bentley. She always felt safe with his arms wrapped around her. She took a deep breath and felt herself calm down.

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yeah so it might not make much sense buthopefully it will later on, maybe ish... any wayy send me some virtual love in the form of a reveiw xx


	2. Chapter 1

Hey, forgot to mention this before, but i do not own skuldeuggery pleaseant, or his freinds, or the world they live in. That job has unfortunatley been taken.

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Charade raised her head from the book she was reading to check the text she'd just received. She'd been sitting in Chinas library for hours now, and hadn't realised how long she had been reading for until her phone buzzed and she saw the time. It was from Skulduggery. She hadn't seen him since yesterday morning.

_I'll come and pick you up from the library at 7._

That was weird, it didn't sound like skul at all. And how did he know she was here? She checked the time and saw it was half six. She would just have to ask him when he got here.

It was drizzling rain when Charade got outside. It was a miserable night, and the clouds covered all of the stars. She pulled her coat around her tighter and crossed her arms. Skulduggery had better hurry up otherwise she was going kick his ass.

A beaten up ford van pulled up at the curb she was waiting on and the driver rolled down the window. "You need a lift love?" he asked in rough deep voice.

She looked up at him and saw a menacing face with thinning dark brown hair and almost black, squinty eyes. He had a wide face and broad shoulders with muscley arms. He was someone you did not want to get on the wrong side of. She smiled at him sweetly; she had used her smile to get out of tricky situations before. Don't get me wrong she was no china sorrows, but she could work it when she wanted to. In the most innocent voice she could use she said "oh thank you for the offer, but I'm all sorted thank you." And she smiled at him again.

He looked down at her and simply said "I think you need a lift... love."

"I said no thank you, I'm okay." Her smile was faltering now. What was his problem?

"I suggest you get in the van. Now."

By this point she had completely stopped smiling, "who are you?"

He simply smiled and didn't bother to answer her question, as she felt a pain in the back of her head and the blackness clouded her vision.

When she woke up her hands had been handcuffed behind the back of the chair she was sitting on. She was in a warehouse of sorts. It was cold in here and she wasn't wearing her coat anymore. Charade tried to remember what had happened, and could remember being hassled by the man in the van and then pain and black. She assumed someone had come up behind her and hit her in the head with something, then bundled into the van, brought her here and then handcuffed her to the chair. She could feel a stinging in her cheek and assumed there was a cut there. She looked down at the bits of her arms she could see, and found bruises there. They obviously hadn't been very gentle with her.

She heard a door open and slam from behind her, and there was what sounded like a scuffle going on behind her. She thought she heard a voice she recognised, but hoped to god she wasn't right. Charade kept her head down whilst the group of people walked over to where she was. It occurred to her that if she had heard the voice that she thought she had, and then it would benefit both of them if she changed her face so it was just slightly less recognizable. She changed her nose into a small and slightly crooked one, her lips became thinner, her cheek bones were slightly lower and her jaw changed shape slightly. Her normally quite large eyes became smaller and instead of a deep forest green with flecks of amber, to a lichen coloured shade of grey. She also made her voice a higher more whining noise. When the group of men rounded into her vision she saw that there were five of them. Two of them were built like brick walls and towered over the other three. They were both Identical and like giants. They were standing on either side of a thin yet muscular man in a familiar pinstriped suit. They were holding him up from under the arms and he looked like he was having trouble standing. He had a burlap sack over his head, but she could guess what it was hiding.

That left two men standing in front of her, she recognised the one on the left from the van, and hoped that it had been too dark that night that he wouldn't realise she had changed her features, either that or he was too stupid to notice. He didn't let on that he saw any change in her, and she let out a small breath of relief. The man left was tall and well built, with sandy blond hair with slight curls in. He had big blue eyes and sharp features with full lips. He was, truth be told, quite good looking. He has the sort of look which books would take pages to describe and a face to make you fall on your knees. But Charade had never been much of a blonde hair blue eyes gal. He wore a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, tucked into a pair of black slacks. If he wasn't standing in front of her, in a warehouse, with her attached to a chair, three Hench men and the love of her life surrounding him, then she would have thought he was the prince charming of the story. But she already had her prince charming, and she was really hoping that he didn't have a burlap sack on his head.

Prince charming then smiled his movie star smile at her and said "ah it appears our guest is finally awake, I think it's about time for the grand reunion." Charade forced her face into one filled with attitude, with a hint of confusion, as van man moved towards pinstripe and rested his hand on top of the burlap sack and pulled it off to reveal a head of midnight black hair, which raised to reveal stormy grey eyes, a strong nose and very familiar cheek bones. This face that she loved so much, that Beautiful, comforting, strong face, was now bruised and beaten with a gash on his cheek and a bruise forming underneath his eye. The way he hung he looked like he was beaten. Charade cursed the day that facade had been made permanent. Skulduggery raised his eyes to look straight into hers, and as he did, he sighed with relief.


	3. Chapter 2

Skulduggery estimated that he had been here for hours. They had beaten him and assumed they had broken him, but he had been through worse. He could've kept fighting but thought it best to hold off, make it look like he'd given up. He couldn't even share witty banter with them and jibe them, because the giants sent to beat him looked like they could barley talk, but damn they could throw a punch. They hadn't told him what they wanted but he didn't really care. They'd managed to get him on his way back from the sanctuary, gotten him into a car crash. The poor Bentley ended up in pieces. They'd gotten him before he could react, and then battered him over the head and knocked him out. Then they'd let the fun begin. He hadn't seen anyone else other than the twin giants. They'd left him alone for a while and that gave him time to think. Think about her, her curly hair and plump lips. And her eyes, his favourite sight in the world were her eyes, so deep they were easy to get lost in, so bright they lit up every room she entered. The world was a brighter place when she was around. He loved her with all the love his heart could give. He even loved her sarcastic ways, and how she insisted on embarrassing him in front of Valkyrie.

They were coming back. Yay. More fun. But this time instead of punching him and beating him, they lifted him up, shackled his wrists behind his back, with shackles that had a binding spell woven into them and shoved a sack over his head. As they dragged him through the corridor he made a mental map of which directions they had taken him. At one point he was certain he could smell chlorine. When they pushed through a set of doors he'd tried to struggle, purely for fun, but hadn't gotten very far. They just dragged him over the other side of what sounded like a very large room. There were two other sets of footsteps on either side of him. Then he heard a new voice speak. "Ah it appears our guest is finally awake, I think it's about time for the grand reunion."

Guest? Was there someone else here? Skulduggery could hear footsteps coming towards him and then a hand resting on his head, gruffly pulling the sack from his head. He raised his head and the first thing he caught sight off was the brown curly hair. No! It couldn't be her. They couldn't have her! He raised his eyes to look into hers but instead saw a face he'd never seen before. Instead of being met with her deep green eyes, he had seen shallow grey eyes, with thin lips and a small crooked nose. He'd never seen this girl before. She looked just as confused as he felt when they looked at each other. He let out a sigh of relief. At least they didn't have Charade.

He saw a tall blonde man look at them both with an expectant look on his face, which then fell when he saw neither of them react to the person in front of them.

"Well... what do you think?" he smiled again.

"Think of what? Am I supposed to know him?" the girl asked with an eyebrow raised. She had an attitude to her and Skulduggery smirked at her sass. "Was I supposed to be shocked at the big reveal of a man that I have never met before?"

The blond man's face fell, "what? You don't know who this is?"

"Haven't the foggiest." She crossed her legs and gave him a sceptical look.

The blond man now turned to Skulduggery "what about you? You seen her before?"

Skulduggery looked over to the girl and just shook his head, "nope. Sorry, if this is an attempt to get to me, it's not working very well."

"Hang on! are you telling me, that you harassed me, battered me around the back of the head, shoved me in a van, tied me to a chair and left me in a freezing warehouse all to intimidate some guy I've never met! You're telling me that you've kidnapped me and I'm not even the right person? Some evil genius you are, couldn't even get the right hostage," Skulduggery was amused at the way she messed with the blond man, she was taunting him to no end, and she wasn't even the slightest bit intimidated by him. "No offense here mate but you don't sound like the brightest bulb in the box."

The blond man just stared at her, he looked baffled.

"I would say something, but she pretty much said it all." Skulduggery remarked. The blond man just ignored him and carried on looking at the mysterious girl. He looked at her and she looked straight back at him. He then smirked.

"You're smarter than I thought, but you've greatly underestimated me." And with that the blond man went and touched the girls shoulder and her face contorted in pain. She thrashed slightly and looked towards Skulduggery. She blinked and Skulduggery caught a glimpse of forest green in her eyes. He would know that colour anywhere. It was Charade. She blinked again and the green turned back to grey.

Blondie removed his hand from her shoulder and she gasped. "Miss Beam, you would make this a lot easier on yourself if you just changed back to your regular face." He touched her again, and the thrashing began again. This time the pain was obviously more intense because she lost concentration and her fake face melted away to reveal the Beautiful face Skulduggery had craved. His heart dropped when he saw her. Blondie removed his hand and tilted her chin with his fingers so she was looking at him. Skulduggery couldn't stand that he had his hands on her. "Now that's a good girl Charade." He taunted. She pulled her chin back from his hands and looked away.

"Right so yes you've worked out who I am, aren't you bright? But that still doesn't mean I know this man in front of me." Charade looked back at Blondie.

"Oh really? So you wouldn't mind if I did this..." he moved his hand and the van man went up and punched Skulduggery so hard in the stomach, she could hear the wind leave his lungs. He cried out in pain and she gasped. She looked down knowing that she'd told Blondie everything he needed to know in that one little mistake.

She raised her eyes to meet Skulduggery's and he gave her a pained, yet reassuring smile that said we'll get out of this, when really he was just trying to mask the anger bubbling up inside him.

Blondie smirked in satisfaction, "well, well, well... isn't this interesting? The legendary skeleton detective shaking up with the legendary Charade beam! Who would've thought? I mean I knew there was a love interest in our Skulduggery's life, but I didn't know it was _the _Charade beam! I must say it's a pleasure meeting you love but I guess you're a bit confused as to where you are and who I am?"

"Well princess, I'd like to say that this is a first for me, but it's really not. You're not the first anonymous villain who tied me to a chair in an unknown warehouse. It's quite frankly a little bit old, and I was hoping for something slightly more original to be honest." Charade shrugged her shoulders and looked Blondie straight in the eyes.

Blondie pulled a fake pout and said in a mocking tone, "ouch... that stung. You've got a feisty one there Skulduggery, your gunna want to keep your eyes on her." Skulduggery turned and looked Charade straight in the eyes and she smirked back at him. He smiled and winked, and she blushed slightly. "Aww what a touching moment," Blondies words were dripping in sarcasm, "too bad I've gotta distract you from one another, you see my name is Beau, Beau sharp, and I plan on being evil and carrying out an evil plan. But I thought that there was gunna be one major problem with carrying out said evil plan, and that would be the skeleton detective and his little band of friends. So I thought I'll start with the hardest and then work my way through, eliminating my biggest threat one by one. I also thought it would be nice to have a little fun with you first, because it would be more amusing to inflict the most pain possible before actually killing you. Hence our lovely little assistant Charade here, she's going to be the emotional pain, then there'll be more physical, then that will probably lead to death." Beau smiled and walked over to Charade. He circled her and ran a hand through her hair, sliding his hand across her shoulders, and then trailing a finger down her jaw. He leant down and whispered into her ear, "You really are a Beautiful specimen." Skulduggery had hate burning up inside of him. He wanted to punch him for every time he touched her. Beau gripped her chin and forcefully turned her face to his. He then kissed her full on the mouth, keeping his eyes on Skulduggery the whole time. He could see the rage welling up inside of him and he smiled. Charade bit down on Beaus lip, causing him to bleed. He let go of her and she turned and spat blood onto the floor. Skulduggery smirked when he saw Charade bite him, that was the girl he fell in love with. The one who wouldn't go down without a fight.

"You little... well I can see your going to be a fun one to play with." And he slapped her across the face, leaving an angry red hand print on her cheek. Skulduggery pulled at his human restraints but they didn't even budge. "You keep your hands off of her." He growled at Beau. Beau smirked back at him and said "what you going to do about it Pleasant? How exactly are you planning on stopping me from doing this..." and he leaned down from behind Charade and kissed her on the neck. She flinched and tried to pull away but his hand was on her head, forcing her to stay still. He then bit down on her neck and she gasped in pain, Beau licked the bite mark and then moved up and rubbed his nose against the side her face. Charade couldn't raise her eyes to Skulduggery and she kept struggling against Beau's strong grip, but Beau kept his eyes locked onto Skulduggery the whole time; making sure he didn't miss any of the detective's reactions. His other hand slipped down and rested on Charades chest, stopping there for a moment as he smirked and squeezed. Charade was struggling frantically now, but then he moved his hand down to grasp her waist a little too tight, immobilising her. He kissed her jaw line over and over again, and every time she tried to pull away his grip on her became stronger and stronger. He had his hand in her hair, and his nails dug into her waist where he held her. Skulduggery could see that he was hurting her, but he was unable to do anything about it. He couldn't fight off his giants; he couldn't stop him, so instead he was forced to watch.

Beau had grabbed Charades face again and was kissing her on the mouth, one hand on the back of her head, and one hand dangerously high up on her thigh. She was forcefully trying to pull away from him, but failing every attempt. He broke away from her and murmured in her ear, "there's no use in fighting it, you're just going to end up getting hurt." He trailed a finger down her cheek and she turned away. He sighed and stood up, regarding Skulduggery, who now had his head bowed so he didn't have to see. "You've got a mighty fine girl there." Beau said mocking him. Skulduggery raised his eyes and Beau could see the pure hatred forming in them. He just carried on smiling. He moved out of Skulduggery's line of view so he could see Charade, she was facing the floor and there was a solitary tear on her cheek. His face softened as she looked him in the eyes. Her face screaming the words I'm sorry, he just gave her a small smile to tell her it wasn't her fault she'd just been felt up by a psycho.

Beau was standing talking to the van man, discussing something. He then turned with a smile on his face and punched Charade across the jaw line, almost knocking the seat over. She heard a cracking noise when his fist connected and she knew he had broken her jaw. But this pain didn't bother her, this pain she could deal with, it was the pain in Skulduggery's eyes when another man kissed her, or hurt her, that she couldn't bear. He came around the other side of her and passed in front of her, she lashed out with her feet kicking him in the stomach with her full force, him landing on the ground on his back. He grunted and stood up, dusted himself of and scowled at Charade, who returned the look. He raised a finger at her and waged it slowly. "That was a mistake, my dear." He stalked forward and punched her in the stomach before she could react. The air left her and she gasped and retched trying to find a breath. He slapped her again, and she gasped again at the stinging in her cheek. "No!" Skulduggery shouted, "Please no, don't hurt her. Just me. Please just hurt me." He was looking at Charade, pain clouding his eyes.

"Ahh but Mr. Pleasant I am hurting you. But don't worry; I'm nearly done with her anyway." Charades eyes shot up as a fist connected with the side of her head, leaving her unconscious.

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Give me your thoughts...


	4. Chapter 3

_I dont know whether i like this story or not, im leaning towards not liking it... but i have to be persistent and finish beacause i have so many stories i havent finished and im putting my foot down! *foot being put down* sorry i havent updated taken in a while but i wll get around to it at some point soon... Anyway, read and reveiw pleeeaase because reveiws are like virtual rainbows which make he world go around :)

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When she awoke she was in someone's arms. She looked up hopefully only to find the van man carrying her. She struggled but he just grunted and kept a tight grip on her. They came to a set of doors, and once through them they were in a room with a tiled floor, and light dancing across the walls, a feint scent of chlorine in the air. She knew where she was, and she felt the fear tearing at the pit of her stomach. He had his back to the swimming pool, thank god. He saw Skulduggery being shoved in, and her eyes connected with his, as she tried to convey the extreme terror which was now over powering her body. He looked back with worry etched onto his features. _It's okay, I'll get us out of this, _he mouthed as Beau came through the door behind him. Charade tried to breathe, tried to calm down, but she couldn't.

"Well, miss beam, a pretty little birdie told me about a certain little fear of yours, involving a large mass of water, and I thought how can I use this information? Well now I know! And since we got you all hot and flustered before, were going to let you cool off and go for a dip. Does that sound good?" Beau was patronising her, mocking her as she fought the fear inside of her. The van man started to turn and walk towards the pool, she started thrashing in his arms, screaming and trying to break free, trying to get away from that water. She heard Skulduggery shouting, and people being punched. Beau was laughing at her terror. She screamed again as she left van mans arms and was flung into the pool. She caught a glimpse of Skulduggery running up behind the van man, but by then the blue had enveloped her, like a watery tomb surrounding her on all sides. Never letting go of her. She panicked and thrashed, and tried to make it to the surface but it was like there was an invisible barrier stopping her from breaking free.

She pounded at the barrier, each punch more frantic and scared. She couldn't break free. The water was consuming her; her lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen. Her punches getting weaker. She knew she would be crying but the water surrounded everything. Her hands pressed against the invisible barrier, as she fought to keep her eyes open. Her hand broke the surface of the water, the barrier had been lifted but it was too late. The darkness enclosed around her. Removing the worry from her brain. She was lost.


	5. Chapter 4

"_Ahh but Mr. Pleasant I am hurting you. But don't worry; I'm nearly done with her anyway." Charades eyes shot up as a fist connected with the side of her head, leaving her unconscious..._

Skulduggery watched her as she went limp and slumped against the chair. He started struggling against the giants, but Beau turned around and punched him on the jaw to get him to stop. What he didn't know was that Skulduggery had been working his wrists out of the handcuffs he was in, little bit by bit, and he was almost free. "You're going to pay for hurting her." Skulduggery growled, raising his angry grey eyes, to the mocking blue ones before him.

"Somehow I doubt that Mr. Pleasant" he turned to the van man, "unshackle her and carry her to the pool, you follow behind. I want him to see this." He said turning to the giants holding Skulduggery up. He didn't like the sound of what was ahead. Pool? As in swimming pool? That would explain the chlorine but why were they taking them there? Skulduggery's eyes widened as he realised that Beau knew. He knew that she was terrified of water.

The van man walked up from behind Charade and undid the shackles holding her wrists together. Once he had, she fell from the chair and hit the floor with a thwack, which Skulduggery flinched at. She was lying there face down on the floor. If she woke up now she could get away, they both might have. Please just wake up, open your eyes! But it was too late, as the van man walked around and hauled her into his tree trunks of arms. At least, Skulduggery thought, he wasn't dragging her along the floor.

He saw Charade move in the man's arms as she struggled to get loose, but he had her in a vice like grip. Skulduggery cursed silently. They walked through the double doors, and the smell of chlorine hit them, and the way the light danced off of the walls meant that there was no denying, this was a swimming pool. Charade hadn't seen it yet but he could tell she knew it was there. She turned her head and the pure undiluted terror expressed in her eyes made his stomach drop and he started to stuggle again. _It's okay, I'll get us out of this, _he mouthed desperately, a failed attempt to soothe her.

Beau walked in and saw the struggling and smiled. Skulduggery was itching to punch the smile off of his face. He walked round, and as Charade saw him she tried to mask the fear in her face, but it still shone through, and Beau knew everything he needed to about her. Skulduggery started to twist his wrists; he could nearly get them free, just a little bit more and they would be out, "Well, miss beam, a pretty little birdie told me about a certain little fear of yours," no Skulduggery thought, I have to get out of these cuffs. "Involving a large mass of water, and I thought how can I use this information?" just a few more pulls. "Well now I know! And since we got you all hot and flustered before, were going to let you cool off and go for a dip. Does that sound good?" one more pull and his wrists broke free. He could see the man holding Charade moving towards the pool.

"No!" Skulduggery shouted as he sent a concentrated blast of air into the giants, knocking them off balance and leading them to loosen their grip on his arms. He broke one arm free and threw a punch into the man on the left and ripped his arms from his grasp. Charade was now thrashing in the van mans arms, screaming, trying to get away. Skulduggery fought harder to get to her. He turned as the giants advanced on him and he shot them both back into the wall. They didn't get back up. His anger was lending him strength now. Charade gave an ear piercing scream, and Skulduggery tuned to see her hit the water and go down. She was panicking but worked her way to the surface. She reached out but her hand was stopped by a barrier of some sort. She was pounding at it, frantically trying to break free. Skulduggery turned to see Beau laughing at her, his hand out controlling the surface of the water, holding her in. Skulduggery ran and punched him in the jaw, sent a knee into his stomach and blocked his attempt at a right hook, instead knocking his legs out from under him, and kicking him in the stomach. "I told you you'd pay." He growled as he kicked him again. Beau smiled and pointed to the pool. Skulduggery saw Charades hand break the water but then disappear completely as she shut her eyes and sunk down. Skulduggery knocked Beau unconscious and sent the final man flying across the other side of the room, and dove into the pool after Charade.

He swam to the bottom and wrapped his arms around her limp body, using the water to propel him to the surface like a bullet. They broke free and Skulduggery then used the air to land softly on the side of the pool. He lay down her soaking wet body, gently as he checked for a pulse. She wasn't breathing, so he leaned forward and blew into her mouth. Then placing his hands below her ribs he gave fifteen compressions, and repeated. "Come on Charade, breathe. Please just breathe..." he whispered in between compressions. Her body shook and she retched and gagged, coughing up water and retching for breath. Skulduggery gave out a shaky breath and pulled her up on to his lap and in to an embrace. She was shaking and breathing heavily as Skulduggery lifted the water from them and dropped it back into the pool.

He looked down and saw the tears streaming down her face, her body was racked with sobs and her eyes shut tightly against the world. He rocked her gently back and forwards, buried his face into her hair and murmured soothing and safe words into her ear. She either passed out or fell asleep in his arms, but this gave him a moment to call Valkyrie and tell her why he wasn't picking her up. She sounded worried but he assured her everything was okay, and told her he needed her to call Erskine and get some cleavers out here. He had an idea where they were and now he just needed help with the bag guys. Charade stirred in his arms and he cradled her closer to his body and entwined his fingers with hers. She griped them tightly and turned her face into his chest. He carried on rocking her and they sat like that until the cleavers arrived.


	6. Chapter 5

Slightly rubbishy but ho hum. I think they'll be one or two more chapters out of this then I'll give up on this. Well I hope you enjoy...

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"Hello?" He heard Valkyrie's weary voice call out, around a half hour later.

"Valkyrie! Were in here." Skulduggery called back, being careful not to arouse Charade. Valkyrie walked in with the cleavers and Erskine behind her. The cleavers we straight to apprehend the three Hench men where as Erskine and Valkyrie came over to Skulduggery. She looked down to him and he gave her a small smile back up, telling her it was okay. Erskine crouched down next to Skulduggery and lifted Charade off of him. Skulduggery got to his feet and took Charade back.

"What happened?" Erskine asked, eyeing up the swimming pool they were standing next to. Skulduggery looked down at the unconscious Charade in his arms and pulled her close to his body. Without looking up he said, "They used her to get to me. He said he wanted to destroy me, so they abused her, and beat her, and then drowned her. One of the only things she is terrified of, and they used it against her. And it's my fault. He wanted to get to me by using her."

Erskine looked at the pain in his friends face, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Skul, you saved her, it isn't your fault that they choose to use her. She's strong, she'll pull through this. And I know for a fact that she loves you, and wouldn't blame you for any of this." Skulduggery just nodded and carried on looking at her. "You should probably get your injuries looked at, now you've got skin your gunna have to take care of it." Erskine said, attempting a trace of humour, to lighten the mood slightly. Skulduggery looked up to him.

"Thank you." Skulduggery attempted a smile, and they walked out following the cleavers, who had one Hench man each, and Valkyrie who was dragging Beau along the floor behind her. Skulduggery silently thanked her for not treating him any better. They got outside and reached the van, there was a 1965 ford mustang parked behind it. Skulduggery raised an eyebrow at the car, and turned to Erskine.

"A mustang? Really? _That's_ the car you drive?"

"Yeah why not. I happen to love that car, and I take better care of it then you do with the Bentley." Valkyrie laughed at this, coming over after having put her bad guy in the back of the van.

"He has a point Skulduggery, considering how much you say you love that car it's in a _lot_ of crashes!"

"It's not that many!"Skulduggery tried to protest.

"Skulduggery, you crashed it the first time I ever sat in it! And how many replacement cars do you have stashed around the place?" Valkyrie had caught him out on that one.

"Hey are we making fun of skul? I could get in on that." They heard coming weakly from Skulduggery's arms. They looked down to see Charade, with her eyes open, smiling at them.

"You alright?" Skulduggery asked quietly, after kissing her on the forehead.

"Yeah, I'm good. I could probably stand you know?"She whispered back.

"I'm reluctant to let you go." He smiled down at her, but then put her feet on the ground, steadying her with an arm around the waist. "So what are we mocking him about?" Charade asked Erskine and Valkyrie, who both smiled at her.

"Skuls bad up keeping of the Bentley." Valkyrie informed her, with a smug tone in her voice.

Charade laughed, "Ah yes, the Bentley. Skulduggery's most prized possession, and most loved item on this earth, bar his hat of course. Did I ever tell you that he crashed the Bentley the first time I was in it?"

"Oh really?" Valkyrie turned to Skulduggery and grinned as he looked to the floor, "what was that about not that many crashes?" Skulduggery just turned to Charade and lifted her chin saying,

"You know we should really get that cheek looked at." Slightly shuffling them all towards the mustang. Charade and Valkyrie smirked, but got into the car anyway. Once they were all in, the taunting did not stop, but it only consisted of Erskine and Valkyrie occasionally laughing at something he'd done. Skulduggery and Charade were sitting in the back seat, he had an arm around her shoulders and she rested a head on his.

He turned his head to hers and buried his face into her chocolate ringlets, "are you sure you're okay?" he whispered. She turned her head to his direction and looked into his eyes and sighed, shifting her weight a little so she was closer to him. She looked into the front seat and saw Erskine and Valkyrie laughing, and looked back up to skulduggery's worried eyes.

"Yeah, yeah I think I am." He smiled kissed her forehead. She turned and lifted a hand to his cheek gently and brushed the bruise beneath his eye gently with her thumb. Then she looked to his forehead and gently touched the cut there. "Is there anywhere they didn't hurt you?" she whispered. Skulduggery smiled and pointed to his nose. She leaned forward and gently kissed him on the end.

She then leaned back into his safe arms and rested her head on his shoulder, feeling just slightly at ease.


	7. Chapter 6

Someone asked me to do a bit with Clarabelle in so i tried to fix that in here. Sorry if shes not very good. :P

I think i might try and carry on with this story and change it into something eles...

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Erskine and Valkyrie left them at Kenspeckles and drove back to sanctuary. Valkyrie said that she would send Fletcher along later on to pick them up. They walked hand in hand up through the seats and through the screen to the medical facility.

They walked past Clarabelle wandering through one of the corridors. "Oh hey there guys, did you get beat up? You look like you've been beaten up, I hope you have been beaten up otherwise those bruises would be rather strange..."

"...Thanks... I guess..." Skulduggery and Charade shared the same confused expression. It was an expression often shared around Clarabelle.

"Can you really turn into anyone? I remember the professor telling me but, I might not have been listening, or he could have been talking about squid. But why would he be talking about squid? That would be a strange thing for him to be talking about, not as strange as talking about balloons though..." Clarabelle trailed off, looking lost in her own conversation and she mumbled something about green eggs and ham and looked off into the distance, then turned sharply back to Charade, "so? Can you?"

Charade looked startled and had completely forgotten what Clarabelle had asked her, "I'm sorry I think you lost me, can I what?"

"Turn into any one? What else would I be talking about?"

Charade was about to answer back squid, when Skulduggery leant down and mumbled in her ear, "please dear god just say yes or we will be here all night!" Charade then chuckled and said,

"Yes I can, do you want me to show you?" Clarabelle nodded enthusiastically and Charade let go of skulduggery's hand and blinked, her features melting away to become the same ditzy yet excited ones of Clarabelle in front of her. Clarabelle frowned and then said, "how do I know I'm not just looking in a mirror?" Charade stood there looking confused and then said,

"Ahh but can your mirror do this?" she then changed and shifted to look exactly like professor grouse.

Clarabelle's features lit up and she said "oh hello professor! I was just talking to Charade a moment ago, I don't know where she went but I think she wanted to talk to you." She then wandered off down the corridor.

Charade stood there with her mouth open slightly and changed back into herself. "She did mean that as a joke right, I mean she knew I wasn't really Kenspeckle, right?" she looked worriedly to Skulduggery and he just chuckled and shook his head slowly.

"Sadly no, I don't think she meant it as a joke."

"In that case she is slightly peculiar..."

"That she is." Skulduggery said whilst retaking Charades hand and leading her to the professor.


	8. Chapter 7

They were sitting next to each other on one of the hospital beds, each with their own combination of magical creams working their healing properties into their skin.

"Skul?" Charade asked very softly, they had been silent for a while now but it had been a comforting silence, one that she could have sat in for hours, but this question had been worming its way around her head for a while now.

"Yes?" his velvety voice carried the single word, managing to make even that sound beautiful.

"You love me right?"

"With all the love one heart could give..."

"Why me?"

"What do you mean?" he looked straight at her and saw the conflict in her eyes.

"Why would you love me? I mean I've never met anyone who knew what I could do and then trusted me fully, other than you, Erskine and Ghastly-

"Valkyrie trusts you..."

"But she knows only a few things about me, and you know nearly everything, you've seen all my previous devils, and you know some of the things I've done. I mean not even my own family trusted me, yet you not only trust me, but you admit to caring about me more than anyone else ever has. And I was just wondering, why, or more likely how?" she looked down at her hands now.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that, with all the things I've done and been, and with my power and all, I don't see any reason for anyone to care that much about me..." her voice disobeyed her on the last line and went very quiet, a tear threatening to break away from her eye, but she couldn't wipe it away in case Skulduggery saw.

He leaned closer to her and tilted her head towards him gently so he was looking into her glistening green eyes, just as that rebellious tear escaped and ran down her cheek and Skulduggery stretched out a thumb to gently wipe it away.

She looked away and tried to turn her head when he lent down and kissed her on the lips. So lightly at first it was as if a feather was just resting on them, then he pushed forward and deepened it slightly. She closed her eyes and leaned into him slowly, almost as if it was reluctant, but the pull towards him was too strong to resist. He shifted his hands so they were now on either side of her face and he rubbed her temples slightly, as her kissed her. Then he pulled back and rested his forehead gently on hers.

The moment was so tender and so quiet, that even the smallest of sounds could have broken it, but the one thing on earth that could have made it better, was the oh so smooth, velvet voice that said

"Charade beam, I love you more than any person on this earth could possibly love another, you're smart, charming, quick witted and highly sarcastic. You're beautiful and graceful and can fight like no one I've ever seen before. You've got the ability to make me melt to the floor, every time I see you the world lights up a bit more, and every time I'm not with you my heart aches. I am a monster through and through, but you are the beauty to my beast." He smirked gently down towards her,

"I love the way you smile, the way you eyes light up when you're in a fight, the way you never give up, never surrender. The way you scowl at me when you're annoyed, the way you can stomach almost any food, you have some of the strangest eating habits in the world, carrot sticks and peanut butter? Who does that?" she laughed slightly, "I love every little thing that makes you you, be it lovely and gorgeous or maybe not so nice, I don't care because it's made you the women who sits in front of me now, and I honest to god wouldn't change one single thing about you. Charade Beam, I love you."

He leant forward and kissed her on the lips again, now shifting his hands around her waist and pulling her closer to him, closer so she could never leave him. She broke away from the kiss, looked into the passionate grey windows to his soul, and breathlessly whispered, "I love you Skulduggery."

"Good, I'm glad that speech wasn't in vain." And he smiled at her as she playfully hit him on the arm; he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, "so was that enough reasons to love you?"

"..." there was a throat clearing from behind them, and they turned to see Kenspeckle grouse coming towards them.

"Ah miss beam, I was just wondering, would you like me to give you something to calm you down slightly?" the professor asked without looking up from the board in his hand.

Charades eyebrows furrowed, "Professor, I'm perfectly fine..."

"Nonsense you've just declared your love to Skulduggery pleasant, that means you're either hysterical or insane, both of which I have a pill to help with."

Charade gripped her sides with laughter whilst Skulduggery scowled and grumbled something in reference to a mean old man and a few other unrepeatable words.

"I'll have you know that I am very lovable!"

"Mmh hmm I'm sure you are detective, will you be needing one of those pills?" Kenspeckle raised an eyebrow at Skulduggery, who went to say something but promptly shut his mouth and sulked. Charade reached over and pecked him on the cheek, making his frown lessen slightly.

"So what's the prognosis doc? Can we leave in good health, or will certain limbs fall off as we walk through the door?"

"I've had that happen before and it's surprisingly not fun." Skulduggery grumbled.

"Hmm," the professor looked up from his clipboard and his eyebrows furrowed, "What now?"

"Can we go? Or do you love our company so much that you want to keep us here for longer?"

"Oh, no, no you can go. Just..." Kenspeckle shook his head slowly, "_try _not to get into any fights. Please? I mean I know I ask it every time, and I know you two never listen, but please, just try?"

Charade smiled warmly at the professor, "we will, Kenspeckle. I promise. And thank you, for everything," she bent forward and planted a small kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush furiously and smiled at him again, "Bye professor!" she called and she turned to a chuckling Skulduggery and took his hand and they walked out of the medical bay.

"You know, I've never seen anybody be able to embarrass Kenspeckle quite like you can." Skulduggery said as he leant down and kissed her on the cheek, winding an arm around her shoulders.

"It's one of my many skills and attributes." She flashed him a cheeky grin.


	9. Chapter 8

When they got outside, they realised that it was a beautiful and warm evening with a slight breeze keeping it at a perfect temperature. With clouds littering the sky, but they were the beautiful sort that deserved to be on the ceiling of the Vatican. The sun was reaching the point where it had just started to go down, and most of the sky was still a bright blue, with shades of pink and orange slowly growing in the sky.

"Here's an idea, it's a nice night, its quiet, were alone, no bad guys chasing us, why don't we walk back? Take a nice stroll." Skulduggery looked down to Charade with a big grin on his face. She looked at him confused but agreed anyway.

"You know you can be really strange sometimes."

"I get it from being around you and Valkyrie too much; I swear you're a bad influence on me!" she playfully hit him on the arm, and he slid his hand into hers. They walked along in a comfortable silence, only with Charade breaking it ever so often to ask where they were going, always being met with the reply "Isn't the weather lovely tonight?" and after six attempts she finally gave up and let Skulduggery guide her to the mystery destination.

After a while they came to a field, lined with a perfect white washed fence, with a little gate in. Skulduggery held the gate open and gestured for Charade to go through. She raised an eyebrow, at him but walked through the gate. She started wandering further into the field when she felt a familiar strong hand slide into hers, and squeeze. He led her around the corner and they came to a hill, with a big, beautiful tree standing at the top. The sun was setting behind it and the sky had erupted into flames of oranges and pinks, the clouds floating aimlessly by, a pair of birds swooping delicately through the flames. She felt her insides melt and her breath was taken away, as she gasped at the sheer beauty of it, "Oh... skul, it's... its, wow." She sighed.

"I know." She turned to find him smiling at her, looking in to her bewildered eyes. "Come on, it's better at the top." And he tugged at her hand slightly and led her to the top of the hill, and sat down slowly, gently pulling charade down beside him. He lay down and she laid her head on to his chest. He ran his hand through her hair slowly and played with it. Their breathing was in sync and they watched the clouds roll by. It was so peaceful and beautiful, it was one of those moments which could stretch out forever and she simply wouldn't have minded.

After a little while Skulduggery gently shifted beneath her and sat up. She sat up and faced him, with her legs crossed and he mirrored her actions. He reached across and began playing with her fingers. He looked up into her forest green eyes and could see the golden light high lighting her face, the other side draped in beautifully sculptured shadows that only emphasised her features. Features that would always be perfect in his eyes. He smiled.

"What, what so funny?" she smiled back at him, with an amused tone in her voice.

"It's just; I never knew you could be any more beautiful than you were. Turns out I was wrong."

She blushed furiously and smiled, "What's this? The great skeleton detective admitting that he is wrong? Call the pope it's a miracle!" she feigned shock.

Skulduggery laughed that heart warming laugh of his that would make her knees melt if she had been standing. He let go of one of her hands and reached inside his jacket pocket.

"Charade, I've been waiting such a long time for someone who can make me truly happy again, just like you can. And I think I've been waiting just as long a time to ask you this question." He pulled a small velvet box from inside his jacket pocket, "even though I know I don't deserve someone as kind or as amazing as you, I'm glad that you thought I did." At this point he shifted his weight and moved onto one knee, "Charade Beam, I've known you for hundreds of years and I hope to know you for hundreds more, I wouldn't know what to do if I ever lost you and I hope I never will. You are my world and I love you with all the love this worn out old heart can give. I think two hundred years is long enough to wait so, Charade Beam, will you marry me?"

Charades eyes welled up, and her hands flew to her mouth, she was blushing furiously, fighting back the tears. She looked up into his eyes, so happy, yet with just a hint of hopelessness in them. She prepared herself to say the word she'd dreamed of saying for a while now, just when she saw a silhouette leaning against the tree, over his shoulder. Her face fell and Skulduggery looked confused and furrowed his eyebrows.

That's when they heard the familiar southern drawl, from a familiar and unloved Texan "Aww, what a touchin' moment! You guys got me wellin' up over here!" Skulduggery spun around prepared to fight, only to be met with a fist to the face, and an unwelcome unconsciousness. He was out cold before he could even threaten him. Skulduggery slumped to the ground and Charade stood up slowly.

"Sanguine, I've had a long, hard, depressing day, and you've just knocked out the one man who was going to make it better. You had better have a good reason for being here, or you'd better leave right now, because I am going to kick your sorry arse to next Thursday if you don't."

"Well shoo; can't I just drop by for a friendly visit?"

"No."

"Aww well looks like I'm just gunner have to get down to killing you then." He smirked as he started walking towards her; she simply smiled back and shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. Sanguine's smile was met with a foot to the face and an introduction to the ground,

"What the... how the hell did you just kick me? You barley even moved!"

Charade just smirked again, "Like I said, I've had a hard day and I would suggest you leave or there will be more where that came from."

"Fine I'll go. I can see where I'm not wanted." He began sinking lower into the ground, and just before his head was covered he grinned at Charade. No matter how quick he was she could still hear him coming up behind her, so she turned and slammed a right hook to his jaw, an elbow to his nose, and she spun into a kick, snaking out her foot to meet with his waist; completely unable to be taken by surprise.

He cursed and pulled at his broken nose to move it back into place, wiping away some of the blood that had started pouring out. He sunk back into the ground and she could tell his next move before he made it. She knew he was going to come up behind her again and she prepared to lash out once more, but she was beaten to it when she heard a struggled from behind and she saw Skulduggery on his feet and sanguine on the ground.

"Now I suggest you go, if you would like some of your features to resemble you the next time we meet."

"What? That's it? Your letting me go? No arrest, no death threat, just I can go?" Sanguine's brow furrowed.

"Yes, I was having quite a beautiful moment with my girlfriend, if I do say so myself, and I would like to get back to it. Now take my offer and leave."

"And this aint no trick?"

"No just go before I change my mind."

"Fine but we'll meet again Mr. Pleasant, and Miss Beam your gunna pay for breakin' my nose."

"We count on it." And with that sanguine sunk into the ground. Once Skulduggery was sure that he wasn't going to return, we turned round, wrapped his arms around Charade and dipped her low to the ground. He leant down and kissed her, so passionately, and when he broke away for air she looked almost dazed.

"So, about that question I asked..."

"Yes. Skulduggery it would make me the happiest person in the world to become you wife."

She let the Cheshire grin spread across her face as she saw skulduggery's eyes light up and he smiled. He pulled her upright and then pulled the little black box back out of his pocket and opened it for her to see the beautiful white gold band, inlaid with smaller diamonds and beautifully intricate patterns that swirled around the band, leading up to one larger square cut diamond, set in the middle, which looked like there were almost swirling clouds of silver passing through the diamond. It was so beautiful that it took charades breath away, and her eyes began to well up again when she held out her hand. Skulduggery delicately held it in his and slipped the ring onto her finger. Once he had she pounced on him and wrapped him in an embrace. He laughed and picked her up, spinning her around. When back on the ground she kissed him. He moved back so he was leaning against the tree. When she broke away from him, he smiled again and slid down the tree, pulling Charade along with him. She sat with her back on his chest and his arms around her waist. He gently laid his chin on her head, and they sat there peacefully as they watched the remainder of the orange and pink flames drift away and the midnight blue swarm the sky, with only the pinpricks of stars to offer any light.

"Skul?"

"Hmm?"

"Have you had a crush on me for two hundred years?"

Skulduggery blushed ferociously, and cleared his throat, "Erm don't the stars look beautiful tonight?"

She reached up and pecked him on the cheek, "It's okay, I've had a crush on you for two hundred and fifty years." And she settled back into his arms, whilst he smiled broadly.

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Any good? Yes? No?

Any ideas? I'm open to suggestions :)


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